A Monster based on the Nothing is Scarier trope?

I had an idea about an unseen monster that once someone finds out about it, it comes after them the moment they stop thinking about and are alone. There's no blood, no screaming, no body parts. The people just walk off for what might be a second and are completely gone.

The only way not to get taken away are to think about the monster all the time, which causes a lot of paranoia amongst characters.

Do you think this could work for say a web series? People trying to find ways to free themselves?

Allow me to introduce you to Bruce. He's based on a similar concept, show the "monster" as little as possible with as scary as possible attacks.

If you'll let me deviate for a moment, I think that you bring up an important point; where the series takes place is just as important as the monster itself. I'm sure you've already got some ideas in place about the setting, but I just thought I'd throw some ideas at you; if your setting has a feeling of isolation, oppression, and/or hopelessness, then you could have said setting become just as nasty as the monster itself. The Thing is a good example of such a setting.

Back on topic, I have to ask: what's your monster's mentality? Is it a creature that acts on instinct alone? Does it show some signs of intelligence? Or is its way of thought too abstract for mere humans to understand? Granted the monster's mentality isn't something you HAVE to work with, but if it can add a layer of fear onto the mix. For example...

If the monster acts on instinct, the victims could wonder how they're going to escape a beast that can hunt them wherever they go — in other words, they can't stop thinking about it, or the monster will hunt them down.

If the monster acts on intelligence, the victims could have to start worrying about if they can outsmart the creature — especially because the monster seems to outsmart them. Or maybe not; if Nothing Is Scarier, then maybe the monster's inaction is the smartest thing it can do, driving the victims up a wall.

If the monster acts on abstractions, then by that virtue it's full of surprises. Maybe it doesn't think at all; it just is. Like flipping off a light switch — the second the lights goes out, you're gone. You know what I mean?

I assume you've got your own plans, and I don't want to step on your authorial toes, so I'll leave it at that. So good luck to you...and I hope at least one person escapes the monster alive.

All good monsters are based on Nothing Is Scarier, really. The more you know about the monster the more possible fighting or avoiding it becomes (or the more likely you are to have to resort to something vaguely BS to prevent that).

Sounds a lot like The Slender Man, so it's definitely possible.

Actually it reminds me of the Vashta Nerada from Dr. Who. That's probably the closest monster I've seen to Nothing, although I suppose 'death' in the Final Destination series is probably closer to your thing, a kind of abstract force you can only observe through its effects.

As an idea I think it could work well or fall flat, depending on the writing. Rather than going for a web series off the bat I'd be inclined to try it as a short story first, and get feedback.

edited 29th Jun '12 3:08:13 PM by Kesteven

Heh heh, no - the closest monster is the subject of The Nothing Equation. :)

Or The Nothing.

Try "The Reaper's Image" by Stephen King. Not his best story, and he's not the best writer, but it's a concise use of Original Poster's notion.